Solar Environmental Lab Project

Educators Wesley Hill and Dave Madden of the Berlin Community School in Camden County were awarded a $7,850 grant from the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education. In the Solar Environmental Project, students in grades six through eight enrolled in math, technology, and pre-engineering programs design and build a solar environmental lab which is powered by solar panels. Students also design and build their own solar panels in the classroom in preparation for actual installation.

During the summer, seventh-grade math and technology teachers will design Solar Environmental Lab Project instructional elements, while other teachers help ensure that technology and math literacy elements are met. In October and again in February, teachers conduct field trips for students to Lockheed Martin. In February, technology classes design demonstrational solar panels. In April, math classes complete graphs from data provided by the technology classes, and in turn, technology classes complete a construction site survey and build the actual solar panels.

Finally, the students construct an environmental lab to be powered by a bank of solar panels. The solar panels supply power to generate electricity for heating, lighting, and controlled experiments.

Students are tested in mathematics and technology aspects of the project that include worksheets, quizzes, and homework; evaluation of scaled 3-D lab models and interior layout diagrams; experiments with result evaluations; and measuring, construction, and final operation.